DISTRIBUTION OF NORTH AMERICAN FORESTS. 521 



south as Prince's Bay ; and the cretaceous, which occupies the remain- 

 ing small area in the southern and western part. This latter is a con- 

 tinuation of the New Jersey clay-beds. The geological line of separa- 

 tion between the two formations is not always very distinct, but the 

 limits of the different species of plants mark it in unmistakable char- 

 acters. The two floras are remarkably distinct. That one belonging to 

 the cretaceous is well represented by Arctostapliylos, Uva-ursi, Aster 

 concolor, Pinus inops, Quercus Phellos, Quercus nigra, Lycopodium 

 inundation, var. JBigelowii, and many more of the pine-barren plants. 

 Thus far I have never found any of these species to have crossed the 

 line of the drift, but in their stead will be found Pinus nigra, Quer- 

 cus alba, Quercus rubra, etc., and the majority of those plants which 

 grow in the vicinity of New York Island and up the Hudson." 



The Mississippi region embraces the lowlands bordering the Gulf 

 of Mexico from Middle Georgia to Texas, and extending up the Mis- 

 sissippi and its branches to latitude 30. It is a continuation of the 

 Carolinian region, its characteristic trees growing from the Gulf of 

 Mexico to the coast of Maine. It is composed of the same tertiary 

 and cretaceous beds of the Carolinian region, with a few patches of 

 alluvial deposit along the coast. 



The Florida region is well marked and peculiar, being entirely 

 coral alluvial. It has the peculiar flora of that formation found all 

 over the world. Some of its plants are found farther north ; but 

 small beds of alluvial are not uncommon along the coast as far north 

 as New Jersey. 



The Campestrian province might be considered as one region, 

 but Cooper* has divided it into five. The Saskatchewan region, 

 embracing all north of latitude 49, together with the basin of the 

 Red River of the North, has some spurs of the Canadian region 

 running into it, and consequently some of the Canadian species are 

 found on them and on the adjacent Silurian and other formations. 

 This region has no characteristic trees of its own. The Illinois re- 

 gion lies between latitudes 46 and 38, running west to longitude 

 101 ; on the east it is bounded by the forest provinces. It is a con- 

 tinuation of the Ohio region, being underlaid with the same beds 

 of Silurian and carboniferous deposits, with cretaceous and tertiary 

 beds on the west. But here a new feature enters into the geologi- 

 cal characteristics. The loess or lacustrine deposits which cover the 

 whole province from four to one hundred and fifty feet, though de- 

 void of trees, have a peculiar flora, composed largely of composite, 

 and being one of the latest of geological deposits, they furnish the 

 most recent botanical species of the composite. None of the corn- 

 posits have yet been found in any of the fossil flora ; hence it has 

 clearly appeared upon the earth since the Tertiary period. Another 

 remarkable fact is that on the eastern side of the Illinois region where 

 * " Talent-Office Report" (Agriculture), 1860, p. 424. 



